The Brundtland Report ’Our Common Future’

Following the 1983 World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, a 1987 report named 'Our Common Future' was published, defining Sustainable Development as:

'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs''

The report highlighted three fundamental components to sustainable development: environmental protection, economic growth and social equity. The concept of sustainable development focused attention on finding strategies to promote economic and social advancement in ways that avoid environmental degradation, over-exploitation or pollution, and sidelined less productive debates about whether to prioritize development or the environment.